Can I find out what the debtor owns before seizing?
Short answer
Yes. In Quebec, a judgment creditor can examine the debtor about the property they own and their sources of income, by means of a summons to appear for an examination after judgment (form SJ-279). A third party can also be examined about the debtor’s property.
In detail
The examination takes place before enforcement. It exists precisely to avoid paying a bailiff for a seizure that will bring in nothing: it lets you find out where the money is, if there is any.
The Gouvernement du Québec in fact lists the examination first among the available forced execution measures, ahead of the seizure of movable property, seizure in the hands of a third party and seizure of an immovable.
A useful reminder: the judgment stays valid for 10 years. A debtor with no income and no property today may have some in two years; keeping the judgment and the file lets you act at that point.
What to document
The exact balance owed, with the interest calculated, and any clue about the debtor’s situation: a new job, a vehicle, an address, a business in the enterprise register. Date every piece of information and note where it came from.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
Open the application Up to 3 files, no card · see the plans
Official sources
- Forced execution of the judgment — Gouvernement du Québec
- Summons to Appear — Examination After Judgment (SJ-279) — Ministère de la Justice
- The small claims judgment — Gouvernement du Québec
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.